Newsletter Archive

Start-up companies are not born from one mind alone; rather, they are the result of teamwork by people who work within an inspiring and supportive environment, or ecosystem, according to IESE Prof. Julia Prats and Roland Berger Strategy Consultant’s Benno Van Dongen. In their paper, the authors offer insights into how to stimulate entrepreneurship at a time when today’s starts-ups could be the boost the economy needs to get out of the crisis.

A growing body of psychological research has focused on concepts of well-being, life satisfaction and workaholism. In this interview, IESE Prof. Steven Poelmans considers how the research in this field has evolved, and he analyzes some of the key factors related to workplace psychological health.

Imagine you are the general manager of a Spanish company with hotels in the Caribbean. On your first trip there, you discover candidates for cleaning staff at your hotel are required to have pregnancy tests. It’s legal, and no one seems to mind, but it occurs to you that women could be having abortions to get jobs. What do you do? In his new book, Business Ethics in Action, Domènec Melé poses dilemmas like this in a bid to get the new generation of managers, executives and consultants thinking about how to deal ethically.

Ordering two clothing collections a year is so last season. The latest trend in the sector is the “fast fashion” model, used by companies such as Zara or H&M. IESE Prof. Victor Martínez de Albéniz highlights how companies can use assortment rotation to increase consumer spending and gain competitive advantage.